Cries for help ignored: Still-active priest abused them as boys, brothers say

Newsday.com ^ | 3/26/02 | Steve Wick

[Antoninus]

Two former altar boys from Holbrook say a still- active Catholic priest sexually abused them over several years in the late 1970s when they were teenagers, usually in his rectory room in several parishes in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

One of the former altar boys, Mark Welzel, now 39, said the Rev. Eugene Vollmer, now an associate pastor at St. James Church, Seaford, sodomized him as many as 50 times, gave him marijuana to smoke, church wine to drink, and pornographic videos to watch. He broke away from Vollmer when he was 15, he said, and called the Diocese of Rockville Centre to report the abuse. The only response at that point, he said, was a lecture from an unidentified woman over the telephone who said he "shouldn't say this about others.

[Antoninus]

Yet another gut-wrenching story. To any Church leaders that may read this, I beg you - cleanse the priesthood and hierarchy! This seemingly endless homosexual scandal must be dealt with NOW!

[Antoninus]

[Here's the follow-up article from yesterday...]

Three More Accuse Priest
Nassau police get reports of sex abuse

Three more men came forward yesterday to tell police they were sexually abused by the Rev. Eugene Vollmer, including one who said he was abused at a parish in Floral Park in 1991.

The new allegations came in the wake of a Newsday story that detailed charges by two brothers, both former altar boys, that Vollmer had sexually abused them in the late 1970s and early 1980s in parishes in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. One of the two said Vollmer had sodomized him at least 50 times.

In a written statement, the Diocese of Rockville Centre said Vollmer "had his faculties to exercise the priesthood removed" on Thursday, a day after Newsday began asking questions about him. Until that point, Vollmer had been an associate pastor at St. James Church in Seaford.

The diocese, which would not elaborate on Vollmer's status, also said it had turned over "relevant" files on Vollmer to "civil authorities," and a spokesman for the Nassau district attorney's office said they were "arranging for delivery of the materials right now." Meanwhile, Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said yesterday that his office had had no contact with the diocese.

While diocesan officials refused to comment on the allegations being made against Vollmer, the statement said Bishop William Murphy was "extremely anguished at the suffering that has been visited on those whom Father Vollmer has apparently abused. The diocese stands ready to assist them and any others affected in any way possible."

He also said anyone who has been abused should contact his office. "If you have been abused," the statement said, "please let the church and the civil authorities know."

The two men who made the initial complaints against Vollmer, Mark and Rainer Welzel, said last week that they had reported the abuse to the diocese three times unsuccessfully. The diocese statement made no mention of those earlier reports, nor would diocese officials say if they had been contacted by law-enforcement officials about Vollmer in 1998. That year, Rainer filed a complaint with the Nassau district attorney. Investigative sources have said no criminal action was taken because the statute of limitations had expired but said law-enforcement officials forwarded the information to the diocese.

Yesterday, all three of the new reports were made directly to Nassau County police, sources said.

In an interview, one of the men who contacted police told Newsday that the abuse took place in Vollmer's bedroom at St. Thomas the Apostle rectory in West Hempstead in the early 1980s and at a home in Southampton. He said other boys were present on two occasions.

Melanie Little, a Garden City attorney who is the lawyer for a second man, who is now 24, told Newsday the sexual abuse of her client took place in Vollmer's bedroom in the rectory of Our Lady of Victory in Floral Park from 1988 to 1991.

While the diocese's statement spoke of "relevant" files pertaining to Vollmer, the statement also said there was no information pertaining to sexual abuse allegations in Vollmer's personnel file.

Joanne Novarro, a spokeswoman for Bishop William Murphy, yesterday did not return calls for comment. For several weeks, Murphy has said there were no "credible" sexual-abuse allegations against priests now working in the diocese.

Yesterday, Rainer Welzel said he was relieved that the diocese had removed Vollmer, but he wondered why it had taken so long. "Why didn't they act before?" he said. "Why did they wait so long? It says something about the diocese that they acted only after it became public."

Little said she represents a former altar boy from Our Lady of Victory in Floral Park who says he was abused by Vollmer from 1988 to 1991. "It seems to me that had it been properly handled from the beginning, my client would not have been abused," she said. "Taking action against Vollmer now is too little, too late."

The diocesan statement also complained that Newsday had incorrectly stated in its story that Vollmer was "still active" even though he had been "removed from active ministry" Thursday.

However, Vollmer's boss at St. James, the Rev. Robert Hewes, told Newsday on Monday that Vollmer told him in a note that he was taking a leave of absence.

Hewes said he held a staff meeting at St. James yesterday and urged church personnel to listen to any parishioner concerns. To this point, however, he said it's been quiet.

[Antoninus]

More bad news...

[uncbob]

Damn it sounds like half the school was seeing this guy

[ELS]

May the light of truth shine brightly on these lowlifes and cleanse the Church of them. They have severely abused the trust of their office, killed their own souls and the souls of innocent children.

[joathome]

And what about all the priests who saw those boys coming and going? Assuming they were totally innocent and completely in the dark about what was going on (BARF, yeah, right), you would think that once all the scandals started breaking (Gilbert Gauthe broke approximately two decades ago), well......you think they would have reported this fellow. Like....a lightbulb would have gone off, "Oh, Jesus. Maybe he was molesting those boys!" The priesthood is rotten......just about through and through. Sorry. They protect their own. This stinks.

Or maybe they were ALL molesting...or at the very least homosexual and sympathetic.

Or, maybe, they told the bishop and he didn't do anything!!!

[SarahW]

Vollmer told him, "This is what guys do. It's a natural part of life. No big deal.'”

Unlike getting married and having a family.

[eastsider]

The only response at that point, he said, was a lecture from an unidentified woman over the telephone who said he "shouldn't say this about others.”

I'd like to know this unidentified woman's story.

[Antoninus]

And what about all the priests who saw those boys coming and going? ... They protect their own. Or maybe they were ALL molesting...or at the very least homosexual and sympathetic. Or, maybe, they told the bishop and he didn't do anything!!!

All of the above is possible. However, even assuming the worst case in this diocese, I don't think you can therefore draw this conclusion...

"The priesthood is rotten......just about through and through."

There are plenty of good, holy priests out there in other dioceses who are slandered and scandalized by such abhorrent behavior. They are victims also and I pray for them.

That said, I don't care how many priests are implicated by this scandal or how severe the 'priest' shortage ... ALL the homosexuals, molesters, and enablers in the ranks must GO!

[Campion]

You know who really makes me mad when I read this story?

Not the perpetrator. I mostly just pity him.

The people who make me mad are the people who knew, or suspected, what was going on ... and did nothing about it, from the bishop on down. They ordained the fool, they assigned him, they did nothing to get rid of him when it became clear he was bad news.

[joathome]

The problem is huge. How many priests have you heard speak out about the matter?

Or to put it another way, I would be WEALTHY if I had a dollar for every Freeper who complained about the silence of the democrats over Clinton's behavior. Monica ain't nothing compared to this! The priests are FAR MORE GUILTY of silence than the democrats ever were!

[EdReform]

bump for later read

[equus]

I went out with a guy who was sexually abused by an episcopal married priest, and his married friend, and his own father, from age 3...and his older brother from age 5. The parents knew--in fact teh father participated--in fact the boy had to perform on his father in front of his brother and both priests. The priest said afterward, "Now you know what your father really is." The father was a highschool coach. The parents divorced. The father must've been bisexual as he later went on to have a girlfriend. The priest was dying of AIDS when I met this guy. He said the priest had told him and his brother that they were both gay, that he could tell. In fact neither was gay, but it totally screwed them up. WHen the priest was dying of AIDS...I told this guy to get tested several times. I guess his father found out I'd recommended that and he called his son and chewed him out saying, If any of this got out, I could lose my job! He cared more about his reputation than totally screwing up his sons. The other brother had pornographic pictures of women all over his house--as if he were trying to block out the images. My friend later married, I hope it worked out okay. He said his entire childhood was stolen from him. I told himi to go to that priest before he died, and tell him that he wasn't gay and never had been gay. He went and did so, but it didn't matter much. For someone to just say they feel sorry for the perpetrator is nuts. People who commit crimes are not to be pitied, but to be put away.

[timestax]

It appears that the Catholic Church steadfastly REFUSES to fire those wierdo priests!!!

[AppyPappy]

Add another homosexual priest to the pile.

[Antoninus]

You know who really makes me mad when I read this story? Not the perpetrator. I mostly just pity him. The people who make me mad are the people who knew, or suspected, what was going on ... and did nothing about it, from the bishop on down. They ordained the fool, they assigned him, they did nothing to get rid of him when it became clear he was bad news.

Exactly. Which is why we, the devout, must take up the mantle ourselves, make some noise and DEMAND that something be done. We need to find some sympathetic ears in the hierarchy of the Chuch and bombard them. It's pretty clear that if we complain to the enablers, our protests will just get bottled up.

This story is instructive in one respect at least - the threat to make the scandal public is enough to achieve the sought-after result. It may come down to that, sadly.

[Antoninus]

The priests are FAR MORE GUILTY of silence than the democrats ever were!

What was that old AIDS activist slogan, "silence = death"?

Well, in this case, that may actually be true - but with more eternal ramifications for the souls of many of these individuals.

[sinkspur]

We need to find some sympathetic ears in the hierarchy of the Chuch and bombard them.

I know what several of us are doing at our parish.

We're not giving another dime to the Diocesan Fund Drive ("Sharing in Ministry"), nor do we put any money into any second collection. I'm withholding my contribution this Sunday. The Easter collection here has traditionally gone to fund seminary education.

I've communicated to my pastor, whom I have known for thirty-five years, what I'm doing, and I've sent a letter to the bishop letting him know that, until we can be assured that our diocese is clean, all our money goes to our parish. We've had a commission of lay people and clergy here in Ft. Worth for six years and have had no incidents, other than one involving a layman and a teenage girl which was dropped when the girl wouldn't cooperate with anybody.

But, who knows? Cutting off the cash gets people's attention like nothing else.